A prominent Baptist leader announced he's endorsing GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney for president.

Richard Land is head of the Southern Baptists Convention's Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission, but he said he's making his endorsement as a private citizen.

Land, who has never publicly supported a presidential candidate before, said this is the most crucial election since Abraham Lincoln was elected in 1860.

He said Romney's positions against abortion and same-sex marriage, plus his commitment to lower the federal deficit make him the best candidate.

"For Christians of traditional religious faith, there cannot be more fundamental issues than the protection of the sanctity of all human life, from conception to natural death and the defense of marriage as a divinely ordained institution between one man and one woman," he wrote.

He added that Romney's Mormon faith is not an issue.